Titans to suspend operations for a year

TRENTON — According to multiple sources, the Trenton Titans are expected to announce Tuesday that they will be ceasing operations for the 2013-14 season.

Trenton GM Rich Lisk declined comment when reached by phone and, through an ECHL spokesman, the league said it would not comment on “rumors” at this time. An anonymous source close to the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the hope is that Trenton could return to the league for the 2014-15 season.

Both on and off the ice, things have been tough for the Titans since they made a hasty return to the league after the Trenton Devils folded following the 2010-11 season. An affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, Trenton averaged 2,578 fans over the course of their 36-game home schedule at the Sun National Bank Center and missed the postseason for the second straight year.

At the tail end of the 2011-12 season, Blue Line Sports, LLC., which was managed by John and Eileen Martinson, sold the team to Delaware Valley Sports Group, LLC. That group includes Lisk, Jim O’Connor, Jim Cook and Tim Curran.

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At the time, optimism — especially from Curran — was high.

“The goal is to bring it back to the way Rich had it in his first stint and fill the building with 5,500-plus people,” Curran told The Trentonian last March, referring to Lisk’s previous stint with the Titans that produced a Kelly Cup in 2005.

“We want to do throwback nights, alternate jerseys, anything to help improve the atmosphere within the community, but it just needs time. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see, but this time next year...this time next year, it’ll be off the charts.”

But that ultimately wasn’t the case. Attendance dropped from an average of 3,012 in 2011-12, and rumors of financial woes were circulating throughout the team midway through the season.

According to a separate source, there was concern amongst the players if paychecks would arrive or if they’d clear if they did — although it’s unclear if there were any issues in that regard — with one person closely associated with the team wondering what would have happened if the Titans made a playoff run.

“Where would the cash come from then for all the travel?,” the source wondered.

With the time off, Trenton will have time to reassess the issues that made it unsuccessful off the ice, with one source saying: “The plan is come to back much, much stronger after this.”